Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto Pairing Review

A cigar with a difference. From trading textiles and breeding, racehorses started a rich history of cigars.

An incredible cigar with an amazing history. The traditional Robusto has a medium profile with tastes of Cream and nuts. Subtle hints of aromatic smokey meatiness evolve as you puff. The Casdagli Robusto smokes earthy, rich and creamy.

A perfect cigar to enjoy on a breezy hot summer's day.

Casdagli Family

The Casdagli family is Greek in a way with a Turkish surname. Their surname derives from a mountain in Anatolia called Kazdaği. It means Goose Mountain. The Ancient Greeks referred to the mountain as the fabled Mount Ida.

The giant geese nested around the Kazdaği Mountain became an important symbol to the Casdagli family.

The first identified member of the Casdagli family was Nicholas Casdagli. Born in the late 1700s in the Ottoman Empire, close to the mountain. By the early 1800s, Nicholas had established a trading and shipping company in Alexandria, Odessa and Smyrna.

An established family of Hellenic merchants. The Casdaglis traded Russian grain until the disruption caused by the Crimean war. Their interests also included shipping, Tobacco and Arabian horse breeding. Emmanuel Casdagli, the grandson of Nicholas Casdagli, decided to reorient the family business.

Casdagli Business Reorientation

Manchester, known as "Cottonpolis", was hungry for natural cotton to feed the looms. It led to a century of prosperity for the Emmanuel Casdagli & Sons family firm. Based in Alexandria, Egypt and Manchester, England, the Casdaglis started concentrating on textiles. They shipped raw Egyptian cotton fibre to English mills. They then shipped the manufactured cotton piece goods back to Egypt.

The successful journey came to a sudden end during the Suez Crisis. In 1956 Egypt expelled the Casdagli family among other British citizens.

After over a century of profitable trading, Emmanuel Casdagli & Sons closed for good. The business kept going from the UK until 1964.

Almost all extended family members now live in England and were born there.

Villa Casdagli inspired the development of Casdagli Cigars' products and visual identity.

The lavish life inspired the Traditional Line of Casdagli Cigars in Cairo. The Casdagli family life centred around the beautiful Villa Casdagli.

History of Casdagli Cigars

The history of Casdagli Cigars is rich. Even though the brand is still young. The Casdagli Cigars brand has grown from a small regional brand to an available cigar worldwide.

Casdagli Cigars originated in 1997, but its history started in the 1800s. The Casdagli family started trading grain, Tobacco, cotton, and Arabian horses.

The adoption of the Colossus of Rhodes demonstrates the continuation of the family tradition. They focussed on the luxury goods trade as the family trading symbol on the brand logo.

The original production of Casdagli Cigars in the 1990s came from Cuba. 100% hand-rolled by the master roller, Carlos Valdez Mosquera.

One of the best rollers ever. The initial production was small. Only 500-1,000 cigars a month shipped into the London market.

Casdagli made their label cigars for some of the top establishments, including

The Rib Room,

Carlton Park Tower

and The Capital Hotel.

Casdagli Cigars also became the choice for certain celebrities and members of the Saudi Royal Family.

New Casdagli Production

When Carlos retired in 2013, he searched for a new trustworthy producer. The search led him to the new Kelner Boutique Factory operated by Hendrik Kelner Jr.

The famous Kelner family of Master blenders.

The long-term partnership led to the launch of four Casdagli cigar lines:

• The Traditional Line (2013),

• The Club Mareva Line (2014),

• The Basilica Line (2015)

• Cabinet Selection (2016).

The most recent cigar line,

The exclusive boutique factory IGM in San Jose handcrafts the newest The Daughters of the Wind (2018) cigar line. The family aims to offer unique, quality, consistent cigars with a sense of luxury, elegance, and Tradition.

Nowadays, you can find Casdagli Cigars almost worldwide.

Casdagli Cigars was Bespoke Cigars before rebranding to Casdagli cigars.

The rebrand happened in Spring 2018 to celebrate the growth from a regional to a worldwide brand. They reunited the Casdagli family trading symbol of Colossus of Rhodes on the brand logo with the Casdagli family name.

The aim? Re-establish the Casdagli reputation and the company's values.

Delivering:

Luxury,

Elegance,

and TraditionTradition.

Casdagli Cigar

Jeremy Nicholas Casdagli

Founder & Co-owner of Casdagli Cigars

Traditional Line cigars are the cornerstone of Casdagli Cigars. The cigar line represents the original cigars created for the brand in the 1990s in Cuba.

The Traditional Line comprises four classic Vitolas married to perfect-fitting blends.

Traditional Line was also the first KBF blended cigar for Casdagli Cigars. It has a Cubanesque spice on the palate. The cigars emulate the original Casdagli Cigar produced in Havana.

It is a full-bodied mild cigar to enjoy as a casual smoke and a perfect introduction to the world of Casdagli Cigars.

Villa Casdagli

In the first decade of the 20th century, Emmanuel and Maria Casdagli purchased a lavish house in Cairo. The Villa's name later changed to Kersal Villa. The name honoured the family's Salford home in England.

In more recent times, the Villa retained the name Villa Casdagli.

In the early 1900s, they built Villa Casdagli in an exclusive residential area outside the old city. Austrian architect Edward Matasek designed the Villa.

A striking building with large, spacious reception rooms filled with luxurious furniture. A young Russian artist decorated the Byzantine room. It took him eight years to complete.

Four generations of Casdaglis lived at the Villa in the heart of the diplomatic and royal quarter. The Villa hosted many extravagant parties.

In the mid-1930s, the United States Government rented the Villa to use as their diplomatic house. The home sold in 1944.

In the new Egypt, after the removal of the monarchy, it became a school and was in a rundown state.

Despite the looting and fires during the Arab Spring, Emmanuel's palace still stands proudly in the Garden City district in central Cairo.

The imitation of Byzantine pattern in the grand reception of Villa Casdagli is now a centrepiece of Casdagli Cigars' visual identity.

The design decorates the cigar boxes and also Villa Casdagli Collection accessories.

Casdagli Cigars Traditional Line Robusto

The traditional Line uses the four original sizes inspired by Carlos Valdez Mosquera, who rolled Bespoke in Havana, Cuba, in the 1990s.

When Carlos retired, Jeremy Casdagli moved production to the KBF factory created by Hendrik Kelner Jr.

The Bespoke Traditional was the first Cigar made at KBF for Bespoke cigars. The Cigar is still sweet, mild, and medium to full-bodied.

The Robusto is their most popular. The Traditional Robusto has the Cotui wrapper that delivers a rich, sweet honey taste. They call it a mild to medium Cigar, a perfect smoke throughout the day.

Blended especially for Casdagli Cigars by Hendrik Kelner Jr. of the Davidoff Kelner family.

Roche Mazet French Wine

The unique aromatic identity of Roche Mazet varietals

Wine comes from a fruit, and that fruit comes from a plant.

The vine.

Roche Mazet mosaic of terroirs

The thorough selection creates incredible Roche Mazet wines.

Pays d'Oc is a vast mosaic of wine-growing situations and conditions.

Roche Mazet picks the best grapes and blends them with respect and great passion. The wine resembles a blend of different terroirs.

Expressing Roche Mazet's expertise in two ways

The wines are wood-aged depending on the qualities of each vine type.

Merlot,

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

The wood contributes roundness and body to the wine.

Roche Mazet aims to highlight the freshness and a full palette of aromas of each grape varietal.

The tasting experience

The Roche Mazet Terroir

The Languedoc-Roussillon region snuggles up to the Mediterranean coast and includes,

• The Pyrénées-Orientales,

• Aude, Hérault

• And Gard regions.

It contains a vast area of different wine-growing situations and conditions.

Its closeness to the sea makes it one of the world's leading wine-growing areas.

Roche Mazet Land shaped by the sea

Pays d'Oc is a crescent-shaped region along the Mediterranean coast. The region has several hundred miles of beaches overlooking the Gulf of Lion.

Wind, sun and mild temperatures sculpt the characteristic arid soil and sharp slopes.

Planted Roche Mazet Vineyards

Vines flourish in this Mediterranean climate, but the terroir is a rough-cut diamond.

The oldest civilisations cultivated vines in Pays d'Oc:

First, the Greeks, then the Romans, who left a growing wine legacy in the region.

Pays d'Oc today is a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) with an extraordinary range of grape varieties.

Winemakers experiment with different soils and weather patterns to make region-expressive wines.

Roche Mazet wines are a collection of Mediterranean-grown grape varieties. The wines tell the story of the region.

Roche Mazet Merlot with pink tints

Merlot is an undisputed contributor to great red wines but also used to make fresh and fruity rosés.

Merlot in the region

Merlot didn't originate in the South of France, but the variety benefits from the region's weather conditions. The area produces incredible Rose wines.

Roche Mazet blends to produce a subtle, distinctive Merlot Rosé.

Its only drawback is that you want more.

Roche Mazet Merlot Rosé Scents

Bright, clear and delicate pink.

Its appealing nose features fruit aromas of strawberry and apricot and floral hints.

The wine is fresh and subtle on the palate.

Served chilled between 8° et 10°C (46° to 50°F)

The elegant, lively wine is an ideal companion for starters, marinated grills and fruit desserts.

Then, of course, also, a Cigar.

Roche Mazet Wine scents:

Floral

Cherries

Aromatic

Red grape skins

Roche Mazet Merlot Rosé Taste

Light Acidity

Fruity and floral

Light alcohol with subtle red fruit flavours

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto

Cigar Description

Robusto is the most popular.

The Traditional Line,

• The filler consists of the aged USA Pennsylvanian Broadleaf, Dominican and Nicaraguan Tobacco.

• Kelner Family Reserve binder of Dominican and Nicaraguan Tobacco

• Dominican Cotui wrapper.

This Cigar delivers a gentle honey-sweet flavour with spices to the palate. It is a medium to mild Cigar with perfect smoke throughout the day.

Cigar Details

Body: Medium

Flavour: Medium

Strength: Medium

Cigar Composition

Wrapper: Dominican Cotui

Binder: Dominican

Filler: Dominican, Nicaragua, USA

Tasting Notes

Dark chocolate, cocoa, earth, vanilla, smoked wood, oak

Packaging

Packaged in a natural cedar piano top box of 20 cigars with individual cellophane.

All packages include a 69% RH 10g Boveda humidification pack. That ensures proper humidification during transit and storage.

Blended for Casdagli Cigars

A Cigar blended especially for Casdagli Cigars by Hendrik Kelner Jr.

Master blenders at the Kelner Boutique Factory.

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Factory: Kelner Boutique Factory

Wrapper: Dominican Republic

Binder: Dominican Republic

Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, & USA

Size: 5 Inches

Ring Gauge: 50

Vitola: Robusto

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto and Rooibos Tea with honey

The Cigar's sweet hints and herbal tobacco quality is ideal with Rooibos tea and honey.

Rooibos tea is floral, with the honey adding a subtle sweetness to compliment the nutty tobacco tastes.

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto with Apple Juice

The apple juice has sweet scents and even sweeter tastes. It is a brilliant pairing with the Cigar.

The earthy, nutty tobacco flavours lift with the apple fruit juice sweetness.

The apple juice resembles a dessert wine character. The sweetness will always pair well with any cigar, especially the Casdagli Robusto.

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto with Roche Mazet Merlot Rose wine

The fresh Rose sips well with the earthy creamy Tobacco. A light rose compliments the rich nutty Tobacco.

The pairing has hints of caramel and toffee flavours paired with cherry flavours.

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto Pre-light

Appearance:

A subtle chestnut brown wrapper with noticeable but minimal veins lines the length of the triple capped and a closed-foot cigar.

The Gold and Green band is a classic heritage-styled band.

On that nose:

Notes of sweetness and dried fruit.

On the Casdagli website, they refer to leather notes on the wrapper.

The Closed Foot:

The website also refers to Cream, leather, and a mild nuttiness on foot.

I picked up smokey notes, dried fruit and nutty scents.

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto Dry Draw

Sweet fruit and bourbon barrel wood are evident from the cold draw.

Nutty

Smokey

Dried fruit sweetness

Creamy Tobacco scents

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto First Puff

Cream, dried fruit and light spice on the retro-hale.

A delicious mild-medium beginning with a creamy smooth smoking experience.

The Cigar delivers earthy vegetable tastes that blend well with the creamy tobacco flavours.

The draw is easy but firm.

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto smoking Evolution

Mild buttery cashews

Rich creaminess

A perfect burn line even on a windy day smoking outside.

Casdagli Traditional Line Robusto Final

Medium profile with tastes of Cream, nuts, and hints of aromatic smokey meatiness.

The Cigar smoked incredible from start to finish. Smoking colder expressed more flavours. The Cigar remained creamy and rich from start to finish.

It is an effortless smoke if you enjoy a subtle mild to medium-bodied smoke.

The Casdagli feels like the ultimate Gentleman Club cigar.

An excellent soft luxurious smoke.

The profile is rich, nutty and creamy.

The Casdagli Robusto smokes earthy and herby with creamy, nutty flavours on the finish.

To buy a box or single Casdagli Cigar, visit Pedro Portia.